Monday
Europe to pay less than US for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine
The European Union has struck a deal to initially pay less for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate than the United States, an EU official told Reuters News Agency as the bloc announced on Wednesday it had secured an agreement for up to 300 million doses. The experimental drug, developed in conjunction with Germany’s BioNTech, is the frontrunner in a global race to produce a vaccine, with interim data released on Monday showing it was more than 90 percent effective at protecting people from COVID-19 in a large-scale clinical trial. Under the EU deal, 27 European countries could buy 200 million doses, and have an option to buy another 100 million. The bloc will pay less than $19.50 per jab, a senior EU official involved in talks with vaccine makers told Reuters, adding that partly reflected ...
US election: Donald Trump makes first appearance since ‘defeat’
US President Donald Trump makes his first official post-election appearance Wednesday for what should be a moment of national unity to mark Veteran’s Day, now marred by his refusal to acknowledge Joe Biden’s win. The president visited Arlington National Cemetery around 11:00 am, four days after US media projected his Democratic rival would take the White House. Since then he has not addressed the nation other than via Twitter, and has not conceded to Biden, as is traditional once a winner is projected in a US vote. And with Covid-19 cases shattering records across the country and states imposing new restrictions in a push to contain the virus before winter arrives, Trump seems to have all but shelved normal presidential duties. Instead, he has remained shut up inside the presidential mansi...
Gunmen kidnap Edo deputy governor’s brother
A younger brother of the Deputy Governor of Edo State identified as Frederick Shaibu has been kidnapped by gunmen while taking his kids to school in Irhiri, Benin. As of the time of filing this report, it was gathered that the kidnappers are yet to make contact with the family. A family source told newsmen that the incident happened on Monday. The source said, “They attacked him and took him away. It happened in the Aruogba area, Irhiri around 07 am when he was driving his children to school. The children were left by the gunmen who took their father away. But the incident has been reported to security agencies, they have not made any contact with the family. “It is believed that the kidnappers came through the Ogba River because people who witnessed the incident said they went through the...
Norwegian Air furloughs staff, pleads for help to survive in 2021
Norwegian Air’s cash crisis could force the debt-laden budget airline to halt operations early next year, the company warned as it issued another plea for rescue funding after reporting quarterly results on Tuesday. The rapid expansion of the pioneer in low-fare transatlantic flights has left it with heavy debts and problems that have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now serving domestic routes only, with just six of its 140 aircraft flying. “Norwegian is dependent on additional working capital in order to continue operating through the first quarter of 2021 and beyond,” the carrier said. The company held cash and cash equivalents of 3.4 billion kroner ($380m) at the end of September, down from 4.98 billion kroner ($550m) three months earlier. Its latest plea comes after Nor...
US election crimes director resigns after Donald Trump’s attorney general authorises probes
The top federal investigator of election crimes in the US has resigned just hours after Donald Trump’s attorney general William Barr authorised probes into claims of voter fraud. Richard Pilger, director of the election crimes branch of the Department of Justice, stepped down from the post he has held since 2010 on Monday. The branch director, Richard Pilger, handed in his resignation within hours of Barr’s authorization. In an email to colleagues about Barr’s order, Pilger said, “Having familiarized myself with the new policy and its ramifications… I must regretfully resign from my role,” The New York Times reported. US Attorney General William Barr gave federal prosecutors blanket authorization Monday to open investigations into voting irregularities, as President Donald Trump repeated u...
Northeast elders asks President Buhari to sack service chiefs
The Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development, Monday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack his service chiefs, accusing the military of deploying massive strength during the #EndSARS protests in parts of the country, thereby leaving the zone at the mercy of Boko Haram, an Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists. According to the elders, scores of civilians were killed as a result of the strategic and operational blunders, which they argued, was avoidable, had greater tact been adopted. In a statement signed by the chairman, Engr. Zana Goni, the North East elders said pro-active intelligence would have revealed this lapse to the military high command, had the service chiefs not been lethargic in their responsibilities. Consequently, the elders, for the um...
Ukrainian president tests positive for coronavirus
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday he tested positive for the novel coronavirus but felt fine as infections surged in the country. “Despite all quarantine measures, I also had a positive test,” Zelensky said on Facebook. The 42-year-old leader said that his temperature was 37.5C but that he felt “good”. He will self-isolate and continue to perform his duties, he added. “Most people overcome Covid-19. And I will get through this too,” he said. The head of Zelensky’s office Andriy Yermak also said that he had contracted the coronavirus. In June, Zelensky’s wife Olena Zelenska was hospitalized after contracting the virus but has recovered. On Saturday, the ex-Soviet country of 40 million people reported a record of 10,746 new coronavirus infections. Ukraine, one of Europe’s po...
Strange illness kills two in Kogi community
Two persons have been confirmed dead at a Fulani and Tiv farm settlement in Odo-Ere, Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State as a result of strange illness. Others affected by the strange illness were said to be receiving treatment at some private hospitals and ECWA Hospital Egbe. A Director in the YWLGA, Reuben Oshagbemi, said the incident was first reported at a private clinic, adding that symptoms of the sickness include stooling, diarrhoea and vomiting. He however pointed out that the situation was under control. Oshagbemi explained that the Ministry of Health had been contacted, noting that the “state epidemiologists will determine the nature of the illness.” However, when our correspondent contacted the state Commissioner for Health, Saka Audu, he said his team of medical pers...
US election: Donald Trump begins legal battle to challenge Joe Biden’s victory Monday
President Donald Trump says his campaign office will kick-off legal battle to challenge the victory of Joe Biden in the US poll on Monday. Joe Biden becomes US President-elect on Saturday after defeating the incumbent in the presidential poll. But Trump has rejected Biden’s victory, claiming the election was fraudulent and that he would challenge the outcome in court. Immediately Biden was declared winner, the president said in a statement from his campaign that Biden is “rushing to falsely pose as the winner,” and called the race “far from over.” The statement said the campaign’s legal battle would begin Monday. “Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated. “I will not rest until the Ame...
US election: Donald Trump’s statement after Joe Biden declared winner — full text
Democrat Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the United States presidential election by several major national media outlets, defeating incumbent Donald Trump. Reacting to the projections on Saturday, Trump immediately accused Biden of “rushing to falsely pose as the winner”. The Republican has made repeated claims of electoral fraud without providing evidence, and his campaign has pledged to challenge the result in some battleground states. Here is Trump’s statement in full: “We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly conte...
Court rules Ahmad Bamalli is 19th Emir of Zazzau
The Kaduna State High Court sitting in Dogarawa, Sabon Gari, Zaria just now rules that Alhaji Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli is the 19th Emir of Zazzau. Justice Kabir Dabo, the presiding judge, also ruled that the Emir can be inaugurated on Monday, November 9, by the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai. The ruling followed a suit filed by Iyan Zazzau, Bashar Aminu, challenging the appointment of the new Emir. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
At least 20 massacred during Mozambique initiation ceremony
Suspected militants beheaded over a dozen men and teenagers participating in a male initiation ceremony in northern Mozambique, local sources said on Wednesday, in the latest violent incident in the country’s insurgency-hit northeast. The dismembered bodies of at least five adults and 15 boys were found on Monday, scattered across a forest clearing in Muidumbe district. Islamist militants operating in the area had attacked several nearby villages over the weekend, looting and burning down homes before retreating into surrounding thicket. “Police learnt of the massacre committed by the insurgents through reports of people who found corpses in the woods,” said an officer in the neighbouring Mueda district who asked not to be named. “It was possible to count 20 bodies spread over an area of a...
